Eden's Enchanted Christmas
by Creme Caramel
Summary: Before she became the famous and cruel Eden Starling, she was just the little Eden with a pure love for Christmas. Oneshot.


A/N: Christmas is coming! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone!

So I've just finished my last final today and I felt like posting this. I've been working so damn hard on this oneshot ever since October, and I have to say, I'm satisfied, even though this is far from my best one. Just consider this little Christmas story as a present from me to all of you who have encouraged me to write more. (Especially Mara Maxwell; she was the first one to read my stories. I think.) Here's to all of you who haven't reviewed but have read and favorited my stories. Thank you all very much.

By the way, have you noticed this is the first Christmas Carol story in this section? Yay to me, haha.

Disclaimer: I do not own _'Barbie in A Christmas Carol'_ or its characters. All belong to Mattel, Inc.

**Eden's Enchanted Christmas**

_Before she became the famous and cruel Eden Starling, she was just the little Eden with a pure love for Christmas._

Christmas, the most joyful time of the year, had finally come.

But for a certain someone, this special holiday might pass by just like any other three hundred and sixty four, or in some cases, three hundred and sixty five days of the year. That someone was me. Eden.

That was the way it had been ever since I moved in to live with my aunt Marie several years prior, after my parents had passed away.

Since then, my only occupation had been practicing scales. The same routine every day. Mondays to Sundays, holidays including. All to pursue to biggest dream: To become an opera singer. Or at least that was what aunt Marie wanted my dream to be.

That year, like every year before that, I had resigned myself to spending Christmas Eve practicing and perfecting the same songs I had been practicing for my entire life, until I received an unexpected invitation from my best friend, Catherine Beadnell.

"Eden!" Catherine squealed her signature high-pitched voice everytime she was happy about something when she ran into me in a grocery shop several weeks before Christmas. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you for so long."

"Hello, Catherine." I gave her a contorted smile. Aunt Marie's lecture on how I should never, ever slouch while eating dinner hadn't been very helpful, as the only thing it did to me was make my miserable mood worse. It wasn't my fault I got back pain from sitting at the piano all day. "Yes, I''ve been quite busy these days. How is your family, Catherine?"

"Oh, we're very well, thank you." She didn't seem to notice my grumpy mood at all. And as she studied me, her face suddenly lit up. "That reminds me! Eden, would you like to stay for dinner this Christmas Eve? We would love to have you here with us. It's been a couple of years since you last dropped by."

I was quite surprised by the sudden invitation. I hadn't been expecting anything of this sort. I remembered when weekly visits to the Beadnell's house was still a habit, but then things changed. My parents died, I was left alone with my aunt, a person who never truly had any friends or relationships all her life, and thus, 'visiting friends' was a term completely foreign to her.

"Oh," I muttered, unsure of what to say next, "Catherine, that's very nice of you to invite me, but I don't think aunt Marie will let me go." _Really, Eden? Why couldn't you just say, 'Oh, thank you Catherine, that's so generous of you to offer. I'll be there at six.'? Oh, right. Aunt Marie._

"Eden, I'm sure your aunt would understand. It's Christmas, remember? Oh, why don't you tell her to join us? You know she'll always be welcome in my family. The more, the merrier. Come on, Eden, it'll make my Christmas." Catherine proposed, then gave me the sweetest smile she ever had. It worked against me everytime.

"Fine, I'll try and see what I can do," I told her. At that moment I couldn't make any promises.

That was the reason why I was sitting here in the dining room, nervously flipping every slice of potatoes with my fork while trying to think of a good reason to persuade my aunt to let me out for one night. Little did I know, it turned out to be harder than I thought.

"Eden!" Startled by the oh so familiar voice, I swallowed the meal as quickly as I could. After all, if I was going to ask for her permission, I'd better fill out my responsibilities first, even if the 'responsibilities' in this case was finishing my meal. When I looked up from my plate, I saw aunt Marie standing in front of me, carefully brushing off a strand of hair from her face with one hand while holding a mirror in the other.

"I'm all done, Aunt Marie. Can I go over to the Beadnell's house?" That wasn't quite the way I had planned for the conversation to begin. But I figured out putting things straightforward was the best way to start.

"Of course not. After dinner, we rehearse." She replied bluntly, reaching out to take my empty plate away. All the enthusiasm that I charged myself with went away in one second. I should have seen this coming. I knew this scene so well. Why did I still feel disappointed?

"I know."But I didn't give up. I kept trying, knowing it might go overboard this time. "But I thought we could… maybe make an exception roday, because it's Christmas! They all said they'd love to see me there. Catherine even said it would make her Christmas!"

I could see Aunt Marie froze at the last sentence. Then she turned around to face me, her voice cold and stern.

"Make her Christmas? Make _her_ Christmas? What about _your _Christmas? More importantly, what about your future? You want to be a singer, don't you?"

"I do, but…" I tried to explain, but Aunt Marie interrupted me before I could even think of what to say in my defense.

"More than anything else in the world?" I doubted myself as I heard the question. Did I really wanted this job more than anything else in the world? I wasn't sure. I knew I used to have dreams when I was younger. And they were so different from being a singer. But I couldn't remember any of them. My mind was so saturated with the ambition of becoming a singer that I could hardly remember who I was before I was left in the hands of Marie Starling. The thought of it scared me.

"Yes, but…" Even when I was resigning, I was still cut off in an exceedingly rude way.

"Then what Catherine and the Beadnells want doesn't matter." She concluded. "What do I always tell you?"

"In a selfish world, the selfish succeed." I slowly recited the words that had become our motto. I lost the fight. The trip to the Beadnells was never going to happen.

"That's right. And if you want to succeed, you have to use every single second of your time selfishly." She added.

I gave up. I couldn't find any reason to convince aunt Marie to let me outside just for one night. And I knew that if I persisted in arguing, I would only earn myself extra time practicing, which was the last thing that I needed for an-already-horrible Christmas.

"Yes, Aunt Marie." I replied with a sigh, which, luckily for me, she didn't notice.

"Good choice. I'm proud of you." She said, then made her way back to the kitchen. "Now go work your scales until dinner's ready."

With that, she left the room.

I slowly got up from the chair I was sitting on, and dragged myself to the window. I admired in silence how the snowflakes fall on the glass, obscuring my vision of the outside world. Through the window, I could see houses lit up with Christmas decorations, I could see people hurrying to get home with their loved ones, I could feel Christmas coming near. Standing there, I felt like a young prisoner, trapped in a place with no escape I called home.

I closed my eyes, trying to imagine what was happening behind those curtains. A happy family celebrating Christmas. Presents under the tree. Laughter and joy. The smell coming out of the kitchen. As I stood there, it felt like I was watching an old movie of my childhood memories. I felt old. Everything seemed so far away, so long ago. So lost in time.

In a moment of weakness, I devised the craziest escape plan of my life, not knowing how much it would affect the rest of my life.

Tracing my fingers on the piano, I knew it was time to go. I slowly left the room and peeked into Aunt Marie's room. Just as I expected, she had been long asleep on her armchair. I smirked. This was the perfect chance to escape. I quickly got dressed, opened the window and jumped out.

At the back of the house, I found my old sledge and used it to slide down the hill, heading right toward the Beadnell's house. It felt good to do one of my favourite pastimes again. Feeling the wind blow in my face and play with my hair was an euphoric feeling, because it gave me the feeling that, even for a little while, I was… free.

Soon, I found myself standing in front of the Beadnell's house. My favourite place in the whole world. Even though this wasn't my home, I felt at home. Even though the Beadnells weren't related to me, they were still my family. Compared to our house, this place was heaven on Earth.

I smiled to myself and knocked on the door. Almost immediately someone opened it. Catherine.

"Eden!" She squealed, hugging me. "I'm so glad you made it!"

_You have no idea what I've been through to get here_, I mused as she invited me in. The warmth from the fireplace and the smell of ginger permeated the beautifully decorated room, where Catherine's family had been gathering. Catherine's mother was an excellent cook. She reminded me a bit of my own mother's cooking. They both tasted delicious.

I approached the fireplace, where I saw something that made _my_ Christmas.

"You put up my stocking!" I exclaimed, taking another look at the red stocking that was hanging on the fireplace, right next to Catherine's.

They always did. Every Christmas. To them, I was no stranger. I was a sister, a daughter, a granddaughter who only happened to live elsewhere. I was a part of the Beadnells. They always made me feel welcome.

"We always do" Catherine explained. "And have you noticed the pile of presents under the tree? I think there's more for you than for me this year."

I stared down at the colorfully wrapped presents. Really? There was more for me than for Catherine? In that moment, I felt like the happiest person alive, because I knew there were still people who loved and cared about me. The Beadnells were everything I ever asked for and so much more!

"No, it's just for Eden to taste!" Mrs. Beadnell laughed as she approached to let me taste her cookies, taking care to avoid her husband's hands, which were frantically reaching into the bowl.

I recognised the flavor as soon as it touched my tongue.

"Snickerdoodles!" I exclaimed, looking at Mrs. Beadnell. She always knew my favourite type of cookies.

"Your favourite cookie, which makes you an expert. What do you think?" She asked.

"Best I've ever tried." I answered. And it was true. Her cookies had always been the best one I've ever had. Like I said, she was an excellent cook.

As I watched Mrs. Beadnell going back to the kitchen to finish the preparations, Catherine had picked up a green present from under the tree and gave it to me. "Here!" She said.

I looked at her, with a hint of surprise, before I finally opened the box. Inside, there was the most magical present I had ever received in my entire life. A snowglobe. I took a careful look at it, then wound it up. A melody began playing as I instantly recognised the carol.

"O' Christmas Tree!"

"Because you sing it so beautifully" She said. "It made me think of you."

Upon hearing those words, I felt like my eyes were tearing up. I was unlucky enough to lose both of my parents at an early age, but I was also extremely lucky to have friends like Catherine and the Beadnells, who were always there to remind me of how special I was and how much they loved me. I believed I was lucky enough to have them in my life.

This was the best Christmas of my life.

"Catherine, thank you so much." I said. "I really love it."

"I'm glad." She smiled at me, before leaving me to join her family for a moment.

I just stood there, watching them talk to each other animatedly. Every movement they made, every sound they gave out felt so warm and full of life. For a moment, I had wished they were my family. I would have given away anything just to be a part of the Beadnell family. Eden Beadnell. That had a nice ring to it.

"In a selfish world, the selfish succeed."

_No, Aunt Marie. You're wrong. The selfish can't succeed in this world, because this is not a selfish world. Just look at them. Are they selfish? No, they're the most wonderful people I've ever had the chance to meet in my life. And just think about it, they're only few out of so many good people out there. No, Aunt Marie, this world isn't selfish, and I don't have to be selfish to be happy._

This wasn't a selfish world, but it was a real world. And unfortunately, in the real world, happiness never last long, even on Christmas Eve.

Because just moments later, I heard a loud knock on the door. I immediately sensed something frightfully threatening and familiar about the noise.

"I'll get it" Mrs. Beadnell said and went to open the door.

The closer she got to the door, the louder the knock became. I felt a sudden urge to run away. Or to dig holes in the carpet and bury myself there. I didn't know why. My instinct told me something bad was going to happen.

Mrs. Beadnell twisted the doorknob, and an angry woman was standing there. My aunt Marie.

"WHERE IS EDEN?" She hissed through clenched teeth.

I gasped and took a few steps back.

What happened next was the memory I've wanted to erase for a long time. But I couldn't. Sometimes it still came back to me in a nightmare.

Aunt Marie screamed at everyone there as soon as she entered the house. I couldn't do anything about it. All I could do was stand there with my eyes meeting the carpet while she yelled at the family, who were still too shocked to say a word. Humiliation. Guilt. Anger. That was all I could feel in those few minutes that seemed to last forever.

The next thing Aunt Marie did was grab my wrist and pull me out of the house. I struggled to break free, but it only caused her grip to become tighter. And when she pushed me into my room and locked the door from the outside, I knew that from that day on, I would be forever imprisoned.

After that, my life revolved around one thing and one thing only: The ambition to become a singer. Several months after the incident, I slowly learned to accept my life as it was. I slowly grew accustomed to this way of life. I didn't need anyone, only me, myself and my career.

There had been moments that I regretted ever sneaking out of the house that day, but there were also other times when I sat in silence, stroking Chuzzlewit's fur and smiling as I remembered the best Christmas of my life. The snowglobe was still there, on my nightstand. It was there for a reason. It was there to remind me of who I was. It was there to remind me to never lose the person I was. I was Eden, not _the_ Eden Starling, the famous London singer.

After all, I still believed that Christmas with the Beadnells would always hold a special place in my heart forever as my Enchanted Christmas.

_Keep the beauty of Christmas in your heart every day of the year. _

_-Barbie_


End file.
